Jazzmaster Wins Warmoth Guitar of the Month!

Earlier this month I entered my Fender Noventa Jazzmaster build into the Warmoth Guitar of the Month competition on the unofficial Warmoth forum. I'd previously entered the StG 90, my Gibson SG tribute, in the March contest where it came in second. This time, and for apparently only the second time ever, there was a tie, with the Noventa Jazzmaster tying for first!

Jazzmaster in Warmoth Guitar of the Month Competition

I made it in just under the wire and got my Noventa-style Jazzmaster entered in the Unofficial Warmoth Forum guitar of the month contest. This month is the "Warmoth or Professionally Finished" category, and since Warmoth finished mine it works. Voting is now open (HERE) and goes through July 19th. A lot of really awesome entries this time around!

Noventa Jazzmaster - Steggo Style - Finaly Done!

I made it by the Five Star Guitars to pick up my freshly set up Noventa Jazzmaster clone. A couple of months ago I'd gone through the full construction article of how I built this beauty, but I also related that I'd unfortunately gone as far as my tools and skillset would allow. I'd purchased a new neck directly from Fender, and the nut wasn't set up yet - it just had pilot grooves for the strings. I lacked the proper file set to finish the work, so I (wisely I think) decided to hand it off to the professionals...

Noventa Jazzmaster Project!

Last year Fender came out with their Noventa series of guitars - a Statocaster, Telecaster, and Jazzmaster. Each was armed with single coil (P-90) pickups. The Telecaster made do with one (bridge), the Stratocaster had two (bridge and neck), while the Jazzmaster had three (bridge, neck, and mid). I really loved the idea of a triple P-90 guitar, and played one of the Jazzmasters at my favorite local guitar store - Five Star Guitars. The feel and sound of the guitar was absolutely amazing, but there was only one major problem. The Noventa series guitars by and large harkened back to the 50s and 60s Fender paint schemes - when the current hip auto body paints were frequently used - for at least one or two of the three available colors. The Telecaster was available in Fiesta Red (too orange for my taste), Vintage Blonde (meh), and a pretty nice 2-Color Sunburst. The Stratocaster was available in Daphne Blue (nope!), Surf Green (double nope!), and a Crimson Red Transparent that was actually absolutely stunning. Unfortunately, all of the Noventa Jazzmaster colors fell firmly into my "nope" category with the Fiesta Red shared with the Telecaster (below) being the least objectionable. There was also the Surf Green shared with the Stratocaster, and something they called "Walnut." I've worked in actual walnut. This color wasn't walnut. It was brown - plain, boring brown.

Warmoth Build in Guitar of the Month Contest

Just a quick update for today. I've been out of commission guitar-wise for a week since I cut my finger early last week. My level of self-recrimination has been very high. I've also been working on a couple of fun projects, but they're not ready to add to the page yet. I'm hoping to actually get some things finished and posted later this week. That being said, the Warmoth Guitar of the Month contests have started back up for the year at the Unofficial Warmoth Forum. March's theme is "Warmoth or other professionally finished" instruments. I took a couple of new pictures of the StG 90, my Gibson SG tribute I built back in November, with the finishing touches being added at the first of the year, and submitted it to the contest. This remains one of my favorite guitars because it has so much tonal range.

P90 SG Custom Build - Finally Finished!

In late November I wrote about my first custom DIY guitar build, but at that time there were still a few important "bits" missing to truly finish the project. I was still waiting on a custom truss rod cover and toggle switch plate (AKA "poker chip") that were on order, but hadn't yet arrived. I was also trying to figure out how to get a custom pick-guard made for the guitar as Warmoth didn't offer one for the Diamondback body. However with a little work I was able to get a pickguard made and now the guitar is finished. I may eventually sign the back of the headstock or something, but all of the pieces are finally in place.

Gibson SG with P-90 Tribute Custom Build

Here's a little project I've been working on in the background for quite some time. With all of the pedals I'd built, I'd also seen a lot of people picking up guitar kits and building them. There are even a couple of Facebook groups devoted to the topic. It looked like a lot of fun, and I (obviously) love to build things, so I figured I'd give it a go. I wanted to build something that I didn't already have, and ideally something I couldn't just go buy at the same or lower price point. I'd been looking at the Gibson SG with P90s, but they're not cheap (you're looking at $1500 for starters - probably at least $2K set up like I wanted), and while the finishes were beautiful, I already had red and black guitars. I really liked the idea of a transparent green SG rather than the transparent red - so I figured I'd try and build my own!  

... but do you have it in green???